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The White Reindeer (Finnish: Valkoinen peura, Swedish: Den Vita Renen) is a 1952 Finnish horror drama film directed by Erik Blomberg in his feature film debut.[1] It was entered in competition at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival[2] and earned the Jean Cocteau-led jury special award for Best Fairy Tale Film.[3] After its limited release five years later in the United States, it was one of five films to win the 1956 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film.[4][5]

The White Reindeer
Original release poster
Directed by	Erik Blomberg
Written by	Erik Blomberg Mirjami Kuosmanen
Produced by	Aarne Tarkas
Starring	Mirjami Kuosmanen Kalervo Nissilä Åke Lindman Arvo Lehesmaa
Cinematography	Erik Blomberg
Edited by	Erik Blomberg
Music by	Einar Englund
Production company	Junior-Filmi
Distributed by	Adams Filmi Suomi-Filmi
Release date	25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
Running time	74 minutes (1952) 68 minutes (1986 restoration)
Country	Finland
Language	Finnish

Plot

The film, based on pre-Christian Finnish mythology and Sami shamanism, is set in Finnish Lapland and centers on a young woman, Pirita. In the snowy landscape, Pirita and reindeer herder Aslak meet and soon marry. Aslak must spend time away for work, leaving his new bride lonely. In an effort to alleviate her loneliness and ignite marital passion, Pirita visits the local shaman, who indeed helps her out; but in the process turns her into a shapeshifting, vampiric white reindeer. The villages' men are drawn to her and pursue her, with tragic results.[6][7]

Cast

• Mirjami Kuosmanen as Pirita and as Maarita, Pirita's mother
• Kalervo Nissilä as Aslak
• Åke Lindman as forest ranger
• Arvo Lehesmaa as Tsalkku-Nilla, shaman
• Jouni Tapiola as reindeer herder
• Tyyne Haarla as older woman (uncredited)
• Pentti Irjala as the speaker (uncredited)
• Edvin Kajanne as reindeer herder (uncredited)
• Kauko Laurikainen as man in Laplander's hut (uncredited)
• Heimo Lepistö as wealthy man (uncredited)
• Osmo Osva as reindeer herder (uncredited)
• Aarne Tarkas as the groom (uncredited)
• Inke Tarkas as the bride (uncredited)
• Evald Terho as Pirita’s father (uncredited)
• Kaarlo Wilska as reindeer herder (uncredited)

Release

Theatrical release

The White Reindeer was released theatrically outside of Finland at least in 11 countries, including the United States, Sweden and France.[8]

Home media

The film was released on VHS in Finland in 1990, and in the 2010s, DVDs were released in Finland and in France.[9] A 4K restoration from the original camera negative was realized in 2016–2017 by the National Audiovisual Institute of Finland, and was released on Blu-ray with Swedish and English subtitles.[10] On April 8, 2019, a Region 2 version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Eureka Entertainment, as a part of their "Masters of Cinema" series.[11]

Reception

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International reception

The White Reindeer received mostly positive reviews from critics outside of Finland, with many praising the film's atmosphere, cinematography, haunting imagery. J. Hoberman from The Village Voice gave the film a positive review, calling it "a quasi-ethnographic exercise in magic neorealism". Hoberman also commended the film for its "terse delivery and stark premise".[12] Jeremy Aspinall from Radio Times rated the film four out of five stars, praising the film's documentary-style cinematography, which he felt effectively captured Finland's snow-filled landscape, haunting imagery, and Kuosmanen's performance.[13] Starburst Magazine's James Evans awarded the film a score of nine out of ten stars, calling it "a remarkable, beautiful, and compelling film that is fascinatingly rooted in Lapland mythology and Sámi practices"; highlighting the film's story, dream-like cinematography, and Kuosmanen's performance.[14]

Maitland McDonagh from TV Guide awarded the film 3 out of 5 stars, criticizing the film for being awkward in some parts while praising the cinematography, and haunting imagery. McDonagh concluded her review by calling it "A must-see for horror completists, and one of the few films to explore Sami folkloric traditions."[15]

Awards

• Cannes Film Festival[16] 1953: Best fairy-tale film[17][18]
• Golden Globe 1956: Best foreign-language film[8]

References

Bibliography

External links

• The White Reindeer (1952) at AllMovie
• The White Reindeer at IMDb
• White Reindeer (1952) at Rotten Tomatoes
• Valkoinen peura (The White Reindeer) at Elonet

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